The Internet comprises a vast number of computers and computer networks that are interconnected through communication links. The interconnected computers exchange information using various services. In particular, a server computer system, referred to herein as a web server, may connect through the Internet to a remote client computer system and may send, to the remote client computer system upon request, one or more websites containing one or more graphical and textual web pages of information. A request is made to the web server by visiting the website's address, known as a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”). Upon receipt, the requesting device can display the web pages. The request and display of the websites are typically conducted using a browser. A browser is a special-purpose application program that effects the requesting of web pages and the displaying of web pages.
Browsers are able to locate specific websites because each website, resource, and computer on the Internet has a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. Presently, there are two standards for IP addresses. The older IP address standard, often called IP Version 4 (IPv4), is a 32-bit binary number, which is typically shown in dotted decimal notation, where four 8-bit bytes are separated by a dot from each other (e.g., 64.202.167.32). The notation is used to improve human readability. The newer IP address standard, often called IP Version 6 (IPv6) or Next Generation Internet Protocol (IPng), is a 128-bit binary number. The standard human readable notation for IPv6 addresses presents the address as eight 16-bit hexadecimal words, each separated by a colon (e.g., 2EDC:BA98:0332:0000:CF8A:000C:2154:7313).
IP addresses, however, even in human readable notation, are difficult for people to remember and use. A URL is much easier to remember and may be used to point to any computer, directory, or file on the Internet. A browser is able to access a website on the Internet through the use of a URL. The URL may include a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request combined with the website's Internet address, also known as the website's domain name. An example of a URL with a HTTP request and domain name is: http://www.companyname.com. In this example, the “http” identifies the URL as a HTTP request and the “companyname.com” is the domain name.
Domain names are much easier to remember and use than their corresponding IP addresses. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approves some Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) and delegates the responsibility to a particular organization (a “registry”) for maintaining an authoritative source for the registered domain names within a TLD and their corresponding IP addresses. For certain TLDs (e.g., .biz, .info, .name, and .org) the registry is also the authoritative source for contact information related to the domain name and is referred to as a “thick” registry. For other TLDs (e.g., .com and .net) only the domain name, registrar identification, and name server information is stored within the registry, and a registrar is the authoritative source for the contact information related to the domain name. Such registries are referred to as “thin” registries. Most gTLDs are organized through a central domain name Shared Registration System (SRS) based on their TLD.
The process for registering a domain name with .com, .net, .org, and some other TLDs allows an Internet user to use an ICANN-accredited registrar to register their domain name. For example, if an Internet user, John Doe, wishes to register the domain name “mycompany.com,” John Doe may initially determine whether the desired domain name is available by contacting a domain name registrar. The Internet user may make this contact using the registrar's webpage and typing the desired domain name into a field on the registrar's webpage created for this purpose. Upon receiving the request from the Internet user, the registrar may ascertain whether “mycompany.com” has already been registered by checking the SRS database associated with the TLD of the domain name. The results of the search then may be displayed on the webpage to thereby notify the Internet user of the availability of the domain name. If the domain name is available, the Internet user may proceed with the registration process. Otherwise, the Internet user may keep selecting alternative domain names until an available domain name is found. Domain names are typically registered for a period of one to ten years with first rights to continually re-register the domain name.
The information on web pages is in the form of programmed source code that the browser interprets to determine what to display on the requesting device. The source code may include document formats, objects, parameters, positioning instructions, and other code that is defined in one or more web programming or markup languages. One web programming language is HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), and all web pages use it to some extent. HTML uses text indicators called tags to provide interpretation instructions to the browser. The tags specify the composition of design elements such as text, images, shapes, hyperlinks to other web pages, programming objects such as JAVA applets, form fields, tables, and other elements. The web page can be formatted for proper display on computer systems with widely varying display parameters, due to differences in screen size, resolution, processing power, and maximum download speeds.
Websites can be generated from structured data stored in a database or other data store. In a basic implementation, the data can include multiple records having a data type and content, and a web programming interface can access the database, retrieve records having the desired data types, and add the content of those records to one or more web pages. Additionally, data formats and schema exist that optimize the structured data for inclusion on a website. For example, the Microdata format is a set of HTML tags used to delineate types of data on a web page. Microdata tags can be used in conjunction with a defined data type vocabulary, such as that provided by schema.org, to retain information relating to the data type of data extracted from the database and placed on the website. Retaining such information allows Internet search engines to better understand the content of a website.
The Internet continues to be increasingly valuable to individuals and businesses alike. More people use the Web for everyday tasks, from social networking, shopping, banking, and paying bills to consuming media and entertainment. E-commerce is growing, with businesses delivering more services and content across the Internet, communicating and collaborating online, and inventing new ways to connect with each other. It is advantageous for individuals and businesses to maintain an online presence, which may include presenting information about the individual or business on multiple online platforms. For example, a business might have its own website at www.thebusiness.com, business listings on GOOGLE Places for Business and BING Places for Business, a profile page on FACEBOOK, one or more blast email lists and a mobile application (“app”) that customers download to their mobile device. These platforms can have different virtual locations (i.e. different domains) and partially or fully incompatible formats, despite sharing common information.
Information that is typically common across platforms normally includes the most important information. For individuals, this might be name, photo, phone number, TWITTER handle, blog or personal web page address, and the like. For businesses, this might be name, address, phone number, hours of operation, news feed, product information such as menus or inventory, and the like. Whether such information changes frequently or only on rare occasion, it is very important to the individual or business that the information is consistently presented across all of its online platforms. Unfortunately, the incompatibilities between platforms can require the individual or business to either manually update the information multiple times, or engage a web design firm to maintain the information at some expense and with some risk of errors or omissions as the information is repeatedly updated.
Relatedly, an individual or business may wish to maintain a consistent visual presentation, referred to herein as a theme, across its platforms. Platform incompatibility may prevent or limit the consistency of the theme. For example, color schemes, graphic elements, and layouts are all completely customizable for a standalone website, but FACEBOOK imposes a strict profile format where graphics and layout cannot be easily carried over. It would be advantageous to identify the elements of a theme that can be adapted for use on each platform, in order to best provide the desired consistent presentation. Further, changes to the theme could be more easily propagated across platforms.
Despite the increasing use of the Internet and other online or electronic platforms, individuals and businesses still have physical presences and use printed collateral to convey some of the information from their web presence. Again, the information conveyed on printed collateral, such as flyers, brochures, catalogs, business cards, newsletters, and the like, can include name, contact information, and other information that must be kept consistent. Additionally, printed collateral frequently determines or shares the theme or themes used online. Printed collateral can be designed electronically, using graphic design software such as ADOBE PHOTOSHOP, publishing software such as PAGEPLUS, and other software. These programs can store the information and graphics to be printed in design files that can be accessed by other programs or interfaces.